


What's Important

by tscSNK (tsc)



Series: Tumblr Prompts [22]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-09
Packaged: 2018-03-29 19:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3908260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsc/pseuds/tscSNK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin listens to Eren's meltdown over his soon-to-be stepbrother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What's Important

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, I started writing this before going back and rereading the prompt, and realized I had read it wrong to start. Sorry if this reads a bit jumpy because of that. I read it over to try and smooth it out the best I could.

“Eren, what’s wrong?” the boy on the other end of the phone call asked, worry in his tone.  “It’s nearly midnight, what happened?”

“Armin…”  Eren tried, his voice shaking.

“What’s going on?”

Eren closed his eyes as he sat criss-cross applesauce in the middle of his bed.  He hadn’t moved a single inch for nearly an hour before finally phoning his best friend. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, or how to explain things to his father.

“Eren?”  Armin asked, his voice growing more concerned by the minute.

“I told you my dad was seeing someone, right?”

“Yeah, of course.  A couple months ago.”

“So…”

“Oh!  That’s right.  Was that dinner tonight?”

Eren took another large breath and slowly let it out. He knew he was overreacting. He had to have been.

“Right.”

“So what’s wrong?  Is she terrible?”

“It’s not that at all, actually…” Eren quickly said. She really had been a lovely woman. Not anywhere close to his mother, of course, but lovely.

“Then what happened?”  Armin asked again, almost sounding impatient. Eren couldn’t blame him. though; it was late.

“So, Dad and I got to the restaurant before her, and her son.”

“Her son?”

“Well, yeah.  I guess since Dad proposed, I mean it’s only natural for the kids to meet, right? I don’t know.  I didn’t really think anything of it, y’know? I was in it for the free food.”

“Wait, _what?_ Proposed?  What?  When?”

Eren paused for a moment, trying to get the words in order before he spoke again.  Armin was silent on the other side, knowing it took Eren a while to get through stories with full detail, especially when he sounded upset.

“Ah, last week.  He wanted to keep it quiet so I was told not to really talk about it. So, we are sitting there waiting for them to arrive.  I’m drinking my soda and Dad’s slowly sipping his wine and checking his watch every thirty seconds. To be fair, we were fifteen minutes late, and they showed up right on time.”

“At least they showed up?”

Eren laughed nervously, voice cracking. It was the fakest laugh, and they both knew it.

“When they walk up to the table, I first notice the woman.  She’s actually very beautiful, and when I stop flipping my shit I will congratulate my dad on a job well done, because all in all, she was very nice but…”

“I really don’t see how this can go wrong…” Armin said, trailing off as Eren fell silent once more.

“Remember a few months ago, I went to a party with Jean?”  Eren asked. “You weren’t there, though…”

“Uhh, yeah?  I was out of town with my grandpa so I couldn’t go.  What about it?”

There was another brief pause before Eren started again.  “I told you what happened at the party right?”

It was Armin’s turn to fall silent as he thought long and hard about the party Eren had gone to.  There had been multiple parties since then, and they more or less started to blend together.

“You’re going to have to help me with this one, Eren. Was it the one where Sasha fell down the stairs and the ambulance had to come?”

“No, you were at that one, remember? That was when Annie and Mikasa were sent into the closet for seven minutes in heaven and ended up being in there for like half an hour.”

“You’re right…” Armin trailed off as he began to think again.  “Oh! Was it the one where Ymir proposed to…? Or, no, I’ll take that back, because she does that every party.”

Eren sighed quietly as his eyes fell shut. “It’s the one where I met the boy in his third year of college, because the party was at a friend of a friend of Jean’s…”

“Oh!  When you got laid that one time.”

“Armin!”

“What?”  What does this have to do with – _no you’re fucking with me!_ ”

Eren’s hand moved to the bridge of his nose, squeezing gently.  “I really wish I was fucking with you.  They walk up to the table and as soon as I give the lady a once over in approval, my eyes move over to meet tall, blond and holy-bend-me-over-a-table handsome, Erwin.”

“Oh.  Oh, I can see how this is problematic.”

“We had to pretend like we were meeting for the first time, and not act as though I had his di-“

“Eren…”

“Sorry.  Oh my god, what am I going to do Armin?  He’s gonna be my stepbrother.  I fucked my stepbrother.”

“Eren, to be fair you had no idea, _and_ he isn’t your stepbrother yet.”

“Armin, he’s going to be at some point within the next year and it’s not going to make me forget that my stepbrother took my virginity.  What am I going to do?”

Armin sighed and Eren could hear a quiet growl in the back of his throat.  Eren knew he needed to calm himself down.

“First of all, you’re going to stop saying you slept with your stepbrother because as of this very moment, that isn’t true.  And after they get married, that still won’t be true.  But I definitely understand why you’re freaking out now, and Eren, it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be really awkward, but you’ll be okay.  I’m sure he’s somewhere freaking out just as much as you are right now.”

“Yeah, that’s true…”

“You’re going to go to sleep and wake up and think this over properly.  You overreact when you’re tired.”  Armin continued. “And if you’re still feeling on edge in the morning, then you call me and we can talk about it again. Take a breather and calm down though.

Eren took a deep breath and slowly let it out as his eyes closed.  “Thanks Armin. You’re the best friend a guy could ask for.”

There was a hitch in Armin’s breathing that Eren missed entirely.  “Heh, yeah…. Go to bed, Eren.”

“Night, Ar.”

Eren tossed his phone to his side table before falling back onto his bed and stretching his limbs out.  He was still dressed in his dinner clothes and after all the emotions burning through him, he had next to no energy to change out of them.

The boy closed his eyes and sighed again. He really wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he needed to get past it.  His father was happy again, and that was all that really mattered to Eren. He hadn’t seen the man smile that wide since his mother was still around.  That was more important than a one-night stand at a party.

…with a good-looking guy.

…that was about to be his stepbrother.

Eren’s hands moved up to cover his face as he groaned.

“Fuck…”

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr!](http://tscwrites.tumblr.com)


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